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Bird Watching - The Beast of the Enchanted Lands, Part II (House Item)
| altname =Bird Watching - The Beast of the Enchanted Lands, Part II| }} Book Text "Bird Watching- The Beast of the Enchanted Lands, Part II" Second Edition This book is a guide to bird watching in the Enchanted Lands and the great danger that flies across the land. Welcome, reader, to the exciting conclusion of the story I began in Part I of the Beast of the Enchanted Lands. As you may remember, I told you the harrowing tale of my first encounter with the Great White Hummingbird. The following tale covers how I risked my life to track down that evil fiend and stop it from wreaking destruction upon innocent travelers. Ever since that day I narrowly escaped death at the maw of the Great White Hummingbird, the memory of that encounter haunted my sleep for years. The reader will be surprised to learn that I began bird watching not for the sheer pleasure of it, but rather to follow the old adage-- know your enemy. When my dearest Father found my special helmet in the hands of a wandering nomad, I knew that the Great White had been unleashed upon the land again. I vowed that I would find it an put an end to its existence once and for all. You can read all about my various adventures in my other books, which I know you are sure to buy. For many years I studied my elusive prey. And elusive it was! No one claimed to know anything about it, and after much questioning I came to the conclusion that Great White Hummingbird had frightened everyone into silence. My clue to its whereabouts came from the ramblings of a drunken dwarf. He would be the one to give a name to my archenemy - Zibbly Blip. Now that I knew the True Name of my enemy, I sought out the greatest mage of the land. In time, I found him hiding down by the docks in Freeport. Through much coercing in the way of platinum coins, he used the True Name to reveal where I would find my prey -- The Enchanted Lands. I set sail at once for these so-called Enchanted Lands, intent on engaging in mortal combat with the foul beast. Captain Grok'Zar, a burly man who looked a bit like an orc, had assured me that I would arrive safely upon the shores in no time at all. Were it not for the sneaky attack by pirates in the middle of the night, I surely would have made it there safe and sound. Having been blindfolded by pirates and tossed overboard, I would have thought my journey at an end. I managed to secure a piece of flotsam to hang onto, and over the course of several months, I managed to collect enough to build a small raft. Food and water were no problem, for the sea is swimming with fish and filled with, well, water (a bit on the salty side, yes, but beggers can't be choosers). I am not sure how much time passed, for when adrift on the ocean, there are other things to concern oneself with. After several weeks, for instance, I started seeing the most beautiful birds you could possibly imagine flying past the sun. The amount that I saw could fill whole volumes, but I am here to tell of the Great White Hummingbird. Fear not, reader, for in the end I finally found the lands I sought. When I arrived on shore, it took a few moments for my sea legs to become accustomed to solid land. No sooner than I adjusted, I spied my prey floating right in front of me. In the time since I had last seen the Great White Hummingbird, it had learned the magical arts of illusion. For you see, rather than appear as the threatening monster it truthfully was, it had taken the form of a smiling, waving halfling. Not falling for its insidious tricks, I grabbed my harpoon fashioned from the barnacles floating under my raft and I launched it through the air with all my might. Rest assured, gentle reader, it hit its mark square in the chest. Falling to the ground, it did not have time to cast its spell to turn back into its true hummingbird form. I buried the false halfing that day, saying a small prayer for a fallen enemy, and wound up doing my part to save Norrath from the horrid predations of the Great White Hummingbird.